I added an HD Tivo with network connection to my home system and it is working fine so far. Have a second S2 Tivo in another room under monthly billing via Tivo and the interaction between the two is neat, but only time will tell if it is worth the extra $12.50/mo. Getting this set up and the network system working was not easy but it is clicking right now.

I don't particularly miss HD, but having seen a local TW announcement of impending channel changes figure it's time to get a cable card and join the digital/HD world. From TW's own announcements plus Tivo's info it looks like I'll need one Multistream Card plus a tuning adapter to provide the two way communication needed for upcoming Switched Digital Video.

So far, have:

1. Visited the local TW office to see about getting the M card and installation appointment. Nice folks but the person I talked with admitted knowing very little about cablecards and suggested I call TW directly.

2. Called the local TW office and the representative said that I would need two M cards to provide for the needed two way commo but he did not think I needed the tuning adapter. (This didn't gibe with what I've read here and elsewhere and I told him so.) The rep quoted the price of $42.50 per card for installation and $2.50/month for each card. (Installation price for inserting a card and calling it in to calibrate it seems high for what I'm reading on this forum.)

Nice guy but I don't think he knew much about cablecards or tuning adapters, but he agreed to set an appointment with a technician tomorrow and was confident the tech would know what to do. He was much more interested in selling me TW's set top box, DVR, etc., which, to me, does not compete withTivo's service, so far.

3. I'm waiting to see what the technician has to say tomorrow. My guess is that if he is an experienced TW tech it should work out fine.

Do I have it right about the basic components needed: one M card plus one tuning adapter*, competent installer, and functioning cable system? (* And, that the Tuning Adapter is not needed except for SDV?)

Maybe what I'll learn is that - "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" was the way I should have gone.

I have a question about Comcast's charges for a TivoHD. We have an HD box from Comcast, which we have been using for a year and are still using. Recently I purchased a TivoHD for a second HD TV and had without incident(amazing as that sounds) a M-card installed. Fine. However, I notice my monthly bill increased $14, $7 for additional HD service and an additional $7 for digital service. Why am I paying so much for an additional box that I bought? Is this the future? $14 per HDTV. This sucks big time!

I have a question about Comcast's charges for a TivoHD. We have an HD box from Comcast, which we have been using for a year and are still using. Recently I purchased a TivoHD for a second HD TV and had without incident(amazing as that sounds) a M-card installed. Fine. However, I notice my monthly bill increased $14, $7 for additional HD service and an additional $7 for digital service. Why am I paying so much for an additional box that I bought? Is this the future? $14 per HDTV. This sucks big time!

I have the same setup. HD service is charged for both the Comcast box and TivoHD, $7 or about. The $7 digital access is for the Tivo to access Comcast network ( it sucks) and the M card is supposed to be free of charge. In any case, Camcast is not shy charging money for their service. I am paying in excess of $100/mo no matter what I do.

Thanks for the info. Our cable bill is over $130 with internet and no premium channels. Dummy me, I thought that the extra charge for HD was for the special box to receive it and I was already paying for "digital" service. What really got me was the fact that all channels are going to "digital" and HD, anyway. To say HD is gonna cost you extra because it's special makes me wonder if color programming was extra when it started? Wasn't Comcast supposed to offer "a la carte" service? As Comcast moves popular channels up into the digital domain, they are making cable service less affordable. Maybe I should be looking at satellite service, but I know my Tivos won't be compatible and one of them is an older Humax w/DVD that has lifetime service on it.

I have a question about Comcast's charges for a TivoHD. We have an HD box from Comcast, which we have been using for a year and are still using. Recently I purchased a TivoHD for a second HD TV and had without incident(amazing as that sounds) a M-card installed. Fine. However, I notice my monthly bill increased $14, $7 for additional HD service and an additional $7 for digital service. Why am I paying so much for an additional box that I bought? Is this the future? $14 per HDTV. This sucks big time!

You are being charged incorrectly - there should be NO charge for 'HD service' on a Tivo, that fee is only supposed to be charged if you rent one of their STBs. I would dispute this charge all the way to Comcast exec relations in Philly.

Just had the tech out at my house in Marietta, GA. He first showed up with 1 M-Card and 2 S-Cards. I was like WTF! I requested 2 M-Cards. Needless to say the first M-Card installed perfectly and works like a champ. He couldn't get the 2 S-Cards to work so he went up to the local Comcast office and they actually had an M-Card. He comes back and wow it worked right out of the chute! Everything set-up perfectly.

Ordered/Installed Tivo HD to replace Comcast's HD DVR, called them to inquire about cable cards. I was instructed to drive over to their Michigan Ave. billing center to make the swap. I was given a single MultiStream card. After installing it and calling to activate only the broadcast channels in HD and regular analog cable channels worked. I gave it 2 full days, 2 more activation phone calls and several restarts to no avail.

Went back in to swap for a different MultiStream card (was given a 2nd Single Stream card for no apparent reason), activated it and voila all is well!

Got a free SD Comcast box that I put alongside it for OnDemand/PPV or if we want to watch a 3rd thing while 2 more are recording on the Tivo.

Current monthly charges for equipment - $0/mo for both cards (will return the Single stream soon) $0 for comcast SD box.

I am in Vero Beach, FL and just switched to Comcast from DirecTV and purchased a new Tivo Series 3 HDDVR rather than suffer using the Comcast DVR. When ordering the service at the local Comcast Office I explained I did not want a receiver, just a Multi-Stream cable card and I made sure that is what was requested on the order.
When the installer arrived we went through the order and he explained that he did not have any M-Cards on the truck so would have to install two single channel cards. I figured this was not too much of a problem as I could perhaps get an M-Card from the local office at a later date.
I proceeded to setup the Tivo ready for the installer to insert the cable cards. The installer was really appreciative of this as he explained most customers who want to use Tivo just leave the box next to the TV and expect him to set everything up.
The two single channel cards installed relatively smoothly and while activating the cards the installer told me that the female customer service rep he was speaking to told him that I would not be charged for either of the cards. In addition to this, she also gave me a deal on the internet service ($24.95/6 Months) and I was also going to get a credit due to the installer running late.
When I received my first bill from Comcast I find that they are charging me an additional outlet fee of $6.50 (I only have one TV) and $13.90 for HDTV service! There was no charge for any of the cable cards.
When I called Customer Service I was able to get the $6.50 taken off as they had apparently got me down as having two outlets. The HDTV fee however was a different matter - apparently in this area they charge the HDTV fee for each device and class two single channel cards as two devices. When I protested that I had requested an M-Channel card but the installer told me he only had single channel cards on his truck, I was told that they did not have M-Cards in this market yet and that they were still being tested. Then I asked if I did have an M-Card then would I be only charged for one HDTV access fee? to which the response was "pricing has not be finalized for the M-Cards".
I was obviously not happy and was put through to a manager who repeated the same information.
This is crazy as if I had a Comcast DVR I would only get charged one HD access fee.

apparently in this area they charge the HDTV fee for each device and class two single channel cards as two devices.

Brighthouse does the same thing over here in St. Pete. I'm being charged $2.95 x 4 for the four single-stream CableCARDs I have in my two TiVos plus the $0.95 additional digital outlet fee three times. It's a crazy racket ... as soon as FIOS is available in my area I'll seriously consider switching.

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Brighthouse does the same thing over here in St. Pete. I'm being charged $2.95 x 4 for the four single-stream CableCARDs I have in my two TiVos plus the $0.95 additional digital outlet fee three times. It's a crazy racket ... as soon as FIOS is available in my area I'll seriously consider switching.

I thought I read somewhere that the FCC requires the cable operators to supply the first cable card for free?

I foolishly tried speaking with a different customer service agent last night. I explained the charges and he justified the charges by saying that the cable cards are the same as a set top box without all of the plastic, therefore I am being charged as if I have two set top boxes - this is crazy.

The Tech installed one multistream CableCARD.
Comcast Charged me $27 for the installation, $1.5 monthly for the CableCard.

It took me 1.5 hour arguing with the lady on the phone at comcast in order to
get the CableCard rent fee from $7, the price which she defended very seriously, to $1.5. This 1.5 hour also includes the supervisor, he again argued that I should pay $7 monthly.

Finally, at last I made them open their own FAQ page ( they refused to open it claiming that they do not have internet access - I pushed them by stating this is internal, your own Comcastic Comcast's Website !!).

When the supervisor finally opened the FAQ, read it, apologized faster than light speed, squeezed me for an installation schedule for the next morning hoping I will cool down after spending 1.5 hour pointing the obvious, wasting my time.

The Cox Omaha cable guy just left the house. He installed one multistream card, copied a bunch of numbers off the card. Then we went into the cablecard activation menu and copied a bunch of other numbers. After giving those numbers to the cox office support folks we were prompted to rerun the setup. This appeared to be necessary to let Tivo know that I now had a cable card and to get the new guide info. So that's it. It took an hour or so for the whole setup. I would definitely say that the service call was unnecessary. Additionally, the cable guy had only done a few Tivo card installs but was definitely familiar with it. The charge for the visit is $30 and the cable card is $1.99/mo. I'm glad I got only one multistream card because they're the same price as the single, which would have required two, of course. (Note to self: test the dual tuner recording capability immediately.)

The guided setup did disconnect once during the dialup phase (not yet on my wlan) but restarting the setup completed successfully.

One word of advice: the cable guy wanted to check the cable when he first arrived. I let him do that, of course, and it appeared all was well until, after everything was done, we tuned to ESPN HD. It had lots of blocking/distortion and sound issues. The old HD DVR didn't have the distortion but it turns out the coax cable to Tivo was bad and replacing it fixed it. The common recommendation for eliminating splitters and using good cables still stands.

So all in all, it was a very good experience. I was pleasantly surprised after all I've read on this and other forums about bad experiences installing cable cards in Tivos.

Hi - I can't find any recent posts in this forum concerning cable cards with Comcast. Have they finally gotten all their issues fixed? I just got my new HD TiVo and am dreading the install experience based on past horror stories I've read. Thanks.

I ordered my "Premiere XL" last week I do realize I will loose Ondemand featue with my comcast cable system. I know that ondemand won't work with One Way cable cards-correct? But when will 2 way cable cards be available and will they still will with the "Premiere XL"?

Cable cards are not 2-way, the box is. Since the new Premieres are not tru2way compatible, I would assume that retail tru2way DVRs will never see the light of day. Tivo disagrees with the cableCos and thinks that 2-way should be controlled via network commands (TCP/IP) to the cable headend, not via a built-in two-way modem (and I agree).

Since they are at loggerheads about tru2way, we can only hope that Tivo's agreement with Seachange for cable VOD delivery via the internet will someday show up on the Premieres. For now, you're SOL if you want OnDemand on the Tivo.

Just wanted to say I had a Great Fios Install yesterday for my New (to me) Tivo HD.

First, I called to schedule on Tuesday and they had a Thursday appointment. Of course the window is ridiculous, 8-5, but the dispatcher promised they would call 30 minutes before the arrival.

So, the day comes and sure enough I get a call. Installer says he'll be there in 20 minutes. Then he says "Did you want a set top box" I immediatley panicked. I thought, oh no, here we go. I politely said, "no cable card". He replied "Oh, okay, I have it here, it's just usually the CSRs don't really mean that on these orders".

So, he arrives, and installs the card. No signal. He checks the line and it turns out to be my fault because I have an old crappy splitter in the line. (which I don't even use anymore) He removes it, and offers to give me a few more splitters if I want them. I remember when Comcast used to try to charge people for "illegally" splitting their signal within their own homes.

Then he gets the card up and running in about 15 minutes. I re-run guided setup, and Voila, done!

My first install with Verizon was just as painless. Just wanted to throw that out there , because we all know how much complaining can be in this thread.

2 new s3s already at upgraded to 11d. FIOS tech came in with 4 cards (didn't belive me that I needed 2 per machine), added 2 cards to each box ( i suggested the instructions from ins the Box say one at a time), but the 1 card per box paired fine. they needed to fix some incorrect fatfingered errors for the seconds to activate.

quick activation success, we checked one channel and "finished" setup they left.

The bad part was it took quite a bit of time TiVo downloading something after the install, something in guided setup, perhaps, for me to really verify it was setup & working correctly.

They did tell me I definitely could have ordered the CCs without a truck roll and could have did the install myself over the phone. It contradicts what the ordering CSR said, but all 4 worked.

Just wanted to say I had a Great Fios Install yesterday for my New (to me) Tivo HD.

First, I called to schedule on Tuesday and they had a Thursday appointment. Of course the window is ridiculous, 8-5, but the dispatcher promised they would call 30 minutes before the arrival.

So, the day comes and sure enough I get a call. Installer says he'll be there in 20 minutes. Then he says "Did you want a set top box" I immediatley panicked. I thought, oh no, here we go. I politely said, "no cable card". He replied "Oh, okay, I have it here, it's just usually the CSRs don't really mean that on these orders".

So, he arrives, and installs the card. No signal. He checks the line and it turns out to be my fault because I have an old crappy splitter in the line. (which I don't even use anymore) He removes it, and offers to give me a few more splitters if I want them. I remember when Comcast used to try to charge people for "illegally" splitting their signal within their own homes.

Then he gets the card up and running in about 15 minutes. I re-run guided setup, and Voila, done!

My first install with Verizon was just as painless. Just wanted to throw that out there , because we all know how much complaining can be in this thread.

Your fortunate in having Fios in your area, I can't get wired for another two yrs even though my neight three bloocks away has had it for a year now..

Your fortunate in having Fios in your area, I can't get wired for another two yrs even though my neight three bloocks away has had it for a year now..

I'm stuck with crappy service from TWC/BH

Which FIOS? (Verizon or Frontier?) From what I've heard Verizon is much better on price and service.

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This just in- I got the first guy who gave me the cards to come back, and now he's on the phone with someone who wants things like Card ID #'s and Host #'s etc. I'm guessing we're headed in the right direction, but now on their end my main card says pair failed and my second seems stuck on pair pending and no one has any idea what to do.

Sorri to hear your having issues already.. Sad fact is the contracted empolyee didn't have a cluee what he nr the dispatcher he spoke with when attemptin to pair your cards... It's entirely possible your cards are defective...

When I had my Series3 inital install they went throught 16 cards before they found two that paired...

CAll your provider an expkain the problem an ask for an installer that knows what for fork he/she's doing in regards to a TIVO...!!!!

I recently upgraded my four-year-old Series3 from a 250GB HD to a 1 TB drive (w/software installed) from DVR Upgrade. The swap was easy and took very little time. During the TiVo reboot, when asked about the CableCards, I did not request a pairing from Verizon FiOs, as I understand from the FAQ that Verizon doesn't require this. I get all of my channels, shows are recording, the Season Pass re-set went fine, the complete Guide has downloaded, everything seems as before - except that I get a gray screen and a (seemingly) slight pause when changing channels. Should this be happening? Do I need to call and get the pairing? I too don't need to pay for a technician to come to the house.

I have seen no difference other than the Elite's penchant of not being able to tune a channel (rarely), but by all accounts this is an Elite tuner issue, not a card one. This didn't happen on my HDs. Both S3s and 4s work the same with cards IMO.